The book covers the history of the seaside village, 34km north of Dunedin, tracing its European settlement to the 1830s when Johnny Jones established a whaling station across the bay at Waikouaiti.
Before that, Karitane and the Huriawa Peninsula was a Ngai Tahu stronghold.
Mr Church said Karitane had undergone several stages of development, including whaling, a transit port for gold seekers travelling from Dunedin and Port Chalmers to the gold fields in the 1860s, and fishing from the 1880s, including crayfishing from the 1950s to the 1980s.
There had been hopes Karitane would be the major port for Otago, but this was not to be, he said.
Mr Church's other books, many on sea themes, have included histories of Port Chalmers and Blueskin Bay.
